In fall 1983, I did publicity/promotion for Bogart’s,
which necessitated distributing posters and flyers around Short Vine. I
was on my rounds when Raisins guitarist Rob Fetters turned the corner at
Charlton at a full gallop, wild eyed and hair flying. The Raisins’
debut album, produced by future bandmate Adrian Belew, had just dropped
and the city’s most popular band had somehow become bigger.

Although Fetters didn’t actually know me, he skidded up to me, grabbed my shoulders and began shaking.

“They just played my song on WEBN!” he shrieked joyously,
accosting other strangers similarly before disappearing around the bend.
It was a perfect Rock moment, like every Raisins gig I ever attended.

Beginning with 1976’s The Vinyl Days, WEBN cemented
their status as the city’s top Rock radio station by launching the
Album Project, an opportunity for local bands to gain wider exposure
with the radio play that accompanied an appearance on the annual
compilation album. By the end of the concept’s 14-year, 11-album run,
many tracks were performed by session musicians with a good song rather
than actual working bands. But initially, the Project was an invaluable
audience-builder for bands working the club trenches.

“It was slightly legitimizing, because we didn’t have
anything on vinyl at the time,” Nyswonger says over water, Coke, iced
tea and beers at the Gaslight Cafe in Pleasant Ridge. “We had a
four-song demo. We would record songs periodically that our manager
would futilely send to New York City …”

“And begin the endless rounds of being passed on by major
labels,” Fetters adds. “It felt like we won something, but we didn’t
really win anything. There was a prize; they played it at the fireworks
that year. That was really cool, because we were tripping.”

“You hear your own music under the fireworks, that was a high point,” Nyswonger says.

“Your Song is Mine” was the Raisins’ first appearance,
included on the third album in 1978 (featuring Charley Harper’s
distinctive frog illustration on the cover). Back then, The Raisins
included drummer Chris Arduser (who returned for the psychodots/Bears
chapter) and keyboardist Tom Toth (the song’s co-writer and subsequently
an excellent and longstanding solo artist). Although the band’s famous
configuration never graced an Album Project (they cameoed on AP#8,
singing behind Gary Platt & the Porkopolis All Stars’ “Livin’ in
Sincinnati”), The Raisins’ first appearance was a big deal.

“The Album Project was cool because it gave bands a shot at the radio,” Fetters says. “It was pretty adventurous for WEBN.”

For The Raisins’ still-loyal fans, the reunion is a return
to the band’s heady days as one of the area’s most popular and reliably
entertaining groups. For The Raisins themselves, it’s a terrifying
attempt to revisit material they haven’t played in over a quarter
century.

“I’ve been listening to stuff in the car and it was a big
bunch of noise, in a good way,” Nye says. “I’m trying to figure out what
the hell I was doing.”

“I’ve been playing along with our cassette recordings and
they’re not in tune,” Fetters says with an incredulous laugh. “I can’t
wait to play with you guys because it’s going to sound right.”

The Raisins have regrouped sporadically — for Powell’s
late ’90s solo material, George Cunningham’s heart surgery benefit and
2000’s Jammin’ on Main — but the new millennium finds the quartet at
perhaps their musical peak. Nyswonger has played with eight different
outfits recently, Powell has gigged relentlessly, Nye’s Pop chops have
yielded to his love of Boogie Woogie piano and Fetters continues to make
a living doing commercial music. They’re all working solo projects,
there’s talk of another psychodots album and no one discounts a possible
Raisins recording at some point, given the material written and never
recorded.

For The Album Project Reunion Show (where the merch table
will include a new Raisins T-shirt and a fresh pressing of the long out
of print four-disc set, Everything and More), the first roadblock
was scheduling the date, particularly with Nye’s transcontinental
touring. From there, they massaged the song choices and rehearsed
separately ahead of getting together the week before the show.

“The last time we had a lot of music to prepare,” Nye
says. “Everybody’s busy as hell, so the fact that we’re doing a concise
set, there’s not a lot of stress involved. Maybe a little.”

As Fetters mentioned, The Raisins’ story includes an
almost endless succession of seemingly brainless industry decisions that
kept them working at the local level and eventually sent them on
separate paths. They weigh in on the subject reflectively.

“I think a lot of people hurt for us because they thought
we should be big,” Fetters says. “It’s how I feel about Todd Rundgren.
How the fuck could Phil Collins be a bigger star than Todd? Looking at
you guys, I think everybody’s doing great.”

“It’s not like we’re old, miserable fuckers,” Nyswonger says. “We’ve all done exactly what we wanted to do.”

“To be a star is kind of a perfect storm,” says Powell.
“You have to be honest, and you have to be lucky enough for your honesty
to be what’s selling at that point. Then you have to have somebody with
money or clout to push you.”

“Stuff happens for a reason,” Nye says. “It could have
imploded. We were lucky to have such a loyal fan base. So many people
felt like, ‘Hey, this is our band.’ That was very beautiful.”

There’s an legit bestseller in the memories dredged up by
the musicians’ reminiscences (Naked Party Boat? Scaring Men at Work’s
crew at Timberwolf? Dan the Helicopter Man?), but if the last, best
question to ask Cincinnati’s own Fab Four is “Will you ever get together
again?” Nyswonger answers with another question.

“You want to book us for New Year’s?”

The Raisins reunite for the WEBN ALBUM PROJECT
REUNION SHOW Saturday at Madison Theater in Covington, joined by Rock
Duster, Haymarket Riot, Sorry Charlie, Dan Barr and many others. Buy tickets, check out performance times and get venue details here.